Warriors’ season tickets sell swiftly as arena rises in...

1of7An aerial view of the Chase Center arena, the new home of the Golden State Warriors, under construction on the San Francisco waterfront.Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez / The Chronicle

2of7Construction continues on the new arena for the National Basketball Association champion Warriors. The Chase Center arena is scheduled for a September 2019 opening.Photo: Photos by Carlos Avila Gonzalez / The Chronicle

3of7Warriors President and Chief Operating Officer Rick Welts walks by a past up progress board in the construction offices of the still-under-construction Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, August 21, 2018.Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez / The Chronicle

4of7Warriors Senior Director for Corporate Communications Lisa Goodwin, points out seats in a scale model of the arena at the Chase Center Experience next to the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, August 21, 2018.Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez, The Chronicle

6of7The arena floor is still under construction at Chase Center in San Francisco.Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez / The Chronicle

7of7Warriors President and Chief Operating Officer Rick Welts watches a promotional video at the Chase Center Experience near the still-under-construction Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, August 21, 2018.Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez / The Chronicle

The most dramatic part of the Warriors’ new Chase Center isn’t the high-tech stadium model, or the quickly rising walls at the construction site on Third Street or even the gleaming white siding that has been completed on the east side of the building.

No, one year out from the building’s official opening, the most eye-catching aspect hangs on the wall of the “experience” sales suite. It’s a light-up board, a grown-up version of the Lite Brite toy you might have had as a kid. And right now, the board is almost full of white, yellow and blue lights.

Each one represents a seat purchase. When customers select their new seats, they get to push in the light pin and take a picture. While there are still plenty of open spots on the top level of the unfinished bowl, the best seats have almost all been claimed.

“So far, 80 percent of our current season-ticket holders have committed to come over with us,” said Warriors team president Rick Welts. “I’m thrilled.”

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Warriors president Rick Welts takes the Chronicle on a tour of the Chase Center, which will open in September 2019

Video: SFChronicle

For more than a year, the Warriors have been bringing their current season-ticket holders over to the Chase Center Experience individually to make the sales pitch, starting with the longest tenured ticket holders. The Warriors were originally hoping for a 65 percent renewal rate but, with about half of its season-ticket-holder base already pitched, thus far, 4 out of 5 have chosen to purchase tickets.

The Warriors plan to withhold about 5,000 seats for each game to be made available to the public in the 18,000-seat arena. At the rate sales are going, the team may never open up season-ticket sales to the general public.

“We may not need to,” said Welts.

The building is slated to open in September 2019. The exact date and event that will mark Chase’s debut has yet to be determined, and will probably be announced in early 2019.

“We want to be in the discussion for the greatest arenas in the world,” Welts said. “A place that artists have to play.”

Warriors President and Chief Operating Officer Rick Welts next rendering of seats (sold seats are lighted) in the arena at the Chase Center Experience near the still-under-construction Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, August 21, 2018.

Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez / The Chronicle

The “experience” center is decorated with photos of Taylor Swift and U2, among others. One journalist put in her own suggestion for Bruce Springsteen to be the opening artist. We’ll have to wait and see who christens the Chase Center next September. The Warriors will begin their inaugural season in October 2019.

Twenty months after the groundbreaking ceremony, and after months of appearing to be just a giant hole in the ground — the locker rooms, parking and loading dock will all be below street level — the building is taking shape.

On a recent tour, Welts, in a hard hat, neon vest and safety goggles, was like a proud father, delighting in all the amazing details of his new baby. The building will house the Warriors’ practice court as well as team offices. Welts now spends about half his time in the offices next door to the site and the rest of his time in Oakland. Team owner Joe Lacob comes by the site about once a week. General Manager Bob Myers and coach Steve Kerr have been frequent visitors.

The Third Street corridor is a maze of construction. In addition to the Chase Center, two large office buildings are going up on either side, a joint project with Uber. They will house retail and restaurants on the ground floor and frame an opening courtyard. On the bay side, Terry Francois Boulevard is being rerouted slightly inland, to make room for a 5-plus-acre bayfront park.

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Aerial view of Chase Center under construction.

Video: San Francisco Chronicle

Traffic is already difficult in Mission Bay and will clearly be worse when the arena opens. The arena will have dedicated parking below the stadium, a parking structure with availability in what is now the Giants Lot A and other parking nearby, but the goal is to get people out of their cars. The Third Street rail line goes right past the stadium. The stop is currently under construction to accommodate two passing trains and should be finished by April. The Central Subway line is, according to what Welts has been told, supposed to open in December 2019. There will eventually be a ferry stop outside the building, at the foot of 16th Street.

“We can’t solve San Francisco’s traffic problem, but we don’t think the Chase Center is going to make it worse,” Welts said. “Especially if people take public transportation.”

The neighborhood has been booming for a long time. The expectation is that Chase Center, with its restaurants and other retail, will provide an anchor of sorts to what is now basically an office park. An enormous outdoor screen will hang outside the entrance that can be used to screen sporting events (like the World Cup) or even movie nights. The bayfront park will be another venue that can be used for events.

But there’s no doubt that the arena itself will mostly be the province of high rollers (in much the same way Oracle has become in recent years). In addition to their healthy season ticket sales for the new building, the Warriors’ suites are almost all sold out. That includes a ring of traditional suites above the lower bowl as well as courtside suites that are behind the stands and include the best seats in the house.

But the building is not just going to be about basketball. The arena will hold art projects. Icelandic-Danish sculptor Olafur Eliasson has been commissioned for a piece to mark the bayside entrance that Welts thinks will become iconic. The building also can be reconfigured into a more intimate theater. And, of course, big-name artists — most of whom have never played in the city of San Francisco — will likely make Chase Center a mandatory stop on their tours.

The massive construction project, which has 1,000 workers on site daily, is on time, if not on budget. In a year, when it opens, it will change not only the Warriors organization, and the immediate neighborhood, but San Francisco itself.

Born in San Francisco and raised in Marin County, Ann Killion has covered Bay Area sports for more than two decades. An award-winning columnist and a veteran of 11 Olympics, several World Cups and the Tour de France, Ann joined The Chronicle in 2012. Ann has worked for the San Jose Mercury News, the Los Angeles Times and Sports Illustrated. She is a New York Times best-selling author, having co-written "Solo: A Memoir of Hope" with soccer star Hope Solo,"Throw Like A Girl" with softball player Jennie Finch and two middle-grade books on soccer, “Champions of Women’s Soccer” and “Champions of Men’s Soccer.” She was named California Sportswriter of the Year in both 2014 and 2017. She has two children and lives in Mill Valley.